Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to a wound care method and system utilizing pulsed ultra-violet light therapy and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a wound care method and system utilizing a thermoelectric element for thermal management of an array of ultra-violet light-emitting diodes.
History of the Related Art
An important aspect of patient treatment is wound care. Medical facilities are constantly in need of advanced technology for cleaning and treatment of skin wounds. Larger skin wounds present more serious issues of wound closure and infection prevention. The rapidity of migration over the wound of epithelial and subcutaneous tissue adjacent the wound is thus critical. Devices have been developed and/or technically described which address certain aspects of such wound healing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,823 to Lina et al. (“Lina”) describes a wound therapy device that facilitates wound closure. A vacuum pump is taught for collecting fluids from the wound. WO 93/09727 discloses a solution for wound drainage by utilizing negative pressure over the wound to promote migration of epithelial and subcutaneous tissue over the wound.
Wound treatment may also be performed using light therapy. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,128 to Hart et al. (“Hart”) describes a method of treating various medical conditions such as, for example, joint inflammation, edema, etc., utilizing an array of Light Emitting Diodes (“LEDs”) contained on a flexible substrate that may be wrapped around an anatomical feature of a human body. U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,016 to Vreman et al. (“Vreman”) discloses a phototherapy garment for an infant having a flexible backing material, a transparent liner, and a flexible printed circuit sheet containing surface-mounted LEDs. The LEDs preferably emit high-intensity blue light, suitable for treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. The device may include a portable power supply.